Secret Answers
by Leah Bea
Summary: ::one-shot:: This takes place when Syaoran and Sakura are after the Erase. (Manga) it's from Syaoran's POV.


Hi! In case you hadn't noticed, I changed my username. I mean, I'm still gonna be called Bea (right?) but there's another 'Bea' here so I thought I would change it. When I become 14, I'll change it again. :-) Anyway, this will be my second CCS fic, and about me 20th story to ever write. This story will be from Li Syaoran's POV and is from the manga where he and Sakura capture the Erase. ^_^ It's one of my favorite stories from the manga. Maybe soon I'll start writing something having to do with MARS or Paradise Kiss, or some other manga that I love completely! Okay, this is just talking more than I need to so let's get on with it all!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CARD CAPTOR SAKURA AND RELATED ITEMS!!! I ONLY WRITE FAN FICS ABOUT IT! CLAMP OWNS CCS! I REPEAT, CLAMP OWNS CCS, NOT ME!  
  
Now let's get on with it!  
  
  
  
  
  
Secret Answers  
author: Bea(13)  
  
  
'Gotta keep training. Can't stop. Must keep going.' I rushed to the surface of the salty water and when my head bobbed out of the blue ocean I took a deep breath. 'Not good enough. Try again.' I couldn't let my training relax a bit, I had to keep going. If I hoped to beat Kinomoto-san at collecting the cards. She's good at it, a natural. Choosing cards blindly to capture others, not knowing what may happen, but trusting in her instincts. I have to train harder. To return with no shame to the clan. I paused and looked back at the shore, I wasn't too far out and could see Yamazaki talking to Kinomoto and the others. Probably trying to trick them into another of his lies. For some reason, I always for them like Kinomoto. It's rather embarrassing....  
She's watching him intently, you can tell she's trying to decide if whatever he's saying is true or false. I shook my head and smiled smally. 'Train! Gotta get going again! Hurry up!' I took another deep breath and swam on, diving under water a few feet below the surface. When I resurfaced I heard Yamazaki call, "Hey Li! Do you want to play too?!"   
'Maybe... I want to...' I look at Yamazaki, then to Sakura, then to the tall woman standing beside her. Mitzuki Kaho.... I really do not trust her... I shake my head in reply, 'No.' Mitzuki was definitely someone who I wanted to see as little as possible of. 'Back to training.' I thought as I once more took another deep breath and headed farther away from the shore, once more going underwater.  
FWEEEEEEET!!! The offending sound of the teacher's whistle greets me and I hear him say, "Come on in!" I sigh deeply and head back at a swift pace. This trip certainly hadn't been in my plans. But, the school demanded that we go. When I reach the shore, I see the others gathered around the teacher and head over there myself.   
  
  
"Wow! That's so good, Sakura!" I hear the small voice of one of the other students, Chiharu (or something like that) call out. At the same instant I hear Yamazaki, "You're good at that!" I was pealing potatoes for the curry we were making. I looked up at Kinomoto see that she's wearing a cap over her honey blonde hair, her emerald eyes and mine lock and we stare at each other for a moment before I, once again, turn this into a competition and glare at her. I notice that she's taken a back by my action and I feel bad for always doing this, but... I can't accept her, I can't befriend her... The clan ordered me not to....   
"The rice is done!" Another teacher calls out and I look up at her, she's waving her hands excitedly to get our attention while the other teachers work on putting the rice into pots for our groups.   
"This is for your group, Sakura." I hear as I get my own rice. I glance over and see Kinomoto smiling brightly, she then steps closer to Mitzuki, who leans down, and whispers, "Thank you for helping the other day." I know the think I haven't heard, but I have terrific hearing. It's hard for me not to storm over and tell Kinomoto to watch out for Mitzuki, that she can't be trusted, or thanked. They hold a private conversation, and this time I can't catch a word of it. Mitzuki smiles and pulls on her gloves as she says enthusiastically, "Now! Let's make some good curry!" Kinomoto looks surprised but smiles and nodded in agreement.   
"Li! Get back here with the rice!" Yamazaki calls and I shake my head, clearing it of all the thoughts. I head back to my group and we proceed to make the curry.  
  
Later that night, as we all sat snug in out sleeping bags on the floor, the lights till on when we know they shouldn't be, A few of the boys talk about the test of courage tomorrow at the cliff. Yamazaki, who had been talking with me, looked up and began to stand. "Cliff? You mean the one that you can see from the sea?" He asked, confirming what he had heard before speaking again. The boys nodded and Yamazaki got a wicked look in his eyes. "Since it's not too far off topic, did you know it's an ancient tradition to go to that cliff for a test? Cavemen used to do that to find out who was the bravest. Last year it was said that a group of kids went there and all they had to do was take a candle in, leave it by the shrine at the end of the cave and go back over the bridge to the entrance again. but..." Yamazaki paused for a dramatic affect and smiled as he went on, seeing all of us leaning in closer to hear him. "The bridge was long, but everyone knew that the bridge couldn't be so long that they wouldn't have passed a single person coming back. A few ran out of the cave when they became scared that everyone was gone, that the cave was haunted. The teachers look all over the place for the other students, but didn't find them."  
My tongue got the better of me and I asked, "What happened to them?" Yamazaki looked really pleased with himself and was going to continue when the door to our cabin opened and there was Mitzuki. "Lights out, everyone!" She said as she turned out the lights. She closed the door and we all settled down, forgetting about Yamazaki's story. I laid down in my sleeping bag and soon everyone was asleep. Except me. I laid on my back and stared at the ceiling, then decided it was better for me to for a walk, maybe check out that cave. Getting up, I left the room and headed for the woods, I knew my path would go right past the teacher's cabin, and maybe that's what I wanted.  
A flash of white. What was that? "Hey!" I call out without realizing I had done so. "Whaaaa!" The figure in white said as she tripped and fell to her knees. "Li! Don't scare me like that!" The figure whimpered before I got a good look at her. Kinomoto. My heart was still beating rapidly as I replied, "I was the one who was scared!" I clutch at my heart for a more dramatic look. We look around and spot a log, I sit on it, while she sits on the ground next to it. The stars were lovely that night, I couldn't help but gaze at them.  
"What are you doing?" Her voice interrupted my thoughts and I look at her, wondering the same thing about her. "You first." I said as she laughs nervously, you can tell that she's emabarassed by her answer. "W-well, I couldn't sleep..."   
I decided to take mercy on her and save her the trouble of explaining, another act the elders would not have liked if they knew. "I felt a strange presence, so..." I lie, but not completely, I HAD felt something was strange, but not until now. She gasps and her eyes become wide as she turns her head to look at me, "A Clow Card?!" She asks. I look back up at the sky and say, "I don't know." Kinomoto jumps, I can feel it as she bumps the log. "Th-then... a gh- gh- gh-..." What scares her so much? What's so scary about this one word? "A ghost?" I asked, she stares at me, her eyes wide with fear. "Don't say that!" She tells me. I shake my head and get back to the original topic... "I don't know what it is, but it's coming from over there." I point at the cave where we would be going tomorrow.  
Recognition passes across her face as she states, more to herself than anyone else, "That's the cliff that Naoko was talking about?" I stare at her, refusing to let my own surprise show. So, Yamazaki and Naoko must have had the same idea to scare a couple of people in their rooms... And I fell for it. Kinomoto shuddered and then desperately said, "Let's talk about something else! Okay? Okay?" I look down at the ground again and confess, "I thought it might have been something that teacher did, but..."  
"Teacher? You mean Mitzuki-sensei?"  
"Don't you feel anything from her?" I ask as our eyes meet. Kinomoto blushes slightly as she says, "She makes me feel floaty!" 'Floaty? What the heck?' I have to ask myself. "In any case, she feels different from other people, right?" I asked, choosing to ignore her statement about being 'floaty'. "Well... Yes..." Kinomoto confesses.   
"People with power are drawn to each other." I said, not looking at her now.  
"Do you mean me? People with power?" She asked, pointing to herself. I have to wonder if Kerberos taught her ANYTHING or had just handed her the key.... Argh!  
"You wouldn't be able to use the Clow Cards if you didn't have power. Though you aren't really good at it."   
Kinomoto must have chosen to ignore that because she moved on to her next words. "But she doesn't feel scary at all. I always feel really happy."  
"There are many kinds of power. Terrible things don't always feel scary, so it's not so easy to tell." I know I must have a cold look in my eyes when I said this, judging by the way she reacted,  
"But..." She held her hands in front of her face and looked me in the eyes, "I can't stop feeling that she's nice ore that I like her." She then blushed and confessed, "I feel all floaty when I see Yuki as well..." At the mention of his name I blush as well and confess, since we seem to be doing a lot of that, "Well, I feel the same too, but..." I stop and look at Kinomoto who stops and looks at me as well, we both sigh at the same time, turning a brighter red than before. I have to ask this question, I can't stop the words from forming, even though I already know the answer. "So, you really do you like him?"   
She retaliates with her question, "What about you, Li? Do you... l-l-l-l...." She gives up and looks at me just in time to see me blush even more.   
"Since when have you..."  
"S-since Yuki moved to my brother's school. It was the third quarter of Touya's first year. On the day he transferred in, he became friends with my brother and came over to play. Then..." She stopped herself and turned to me again, "What about you Li?"   
Dang, my turn. The elders would DEFINITELY disapprove of this entire thing, since we were acting more like friends, than rivals. "On the day I transferred in. When I saw him carrying those pork buns." I stop and we look away from each other, both our faces burning with embarrassment.   
She breaks our silence with her next words, "Both you and I are so much younger than Yuki... But..." She looks up at me and smiles, "But... We can't help it. We love him." My eyes widen with surprise at my 'rival'. "I-I'm going to bed!" I said as I stood up and ran. She followed, calling for me to wait up.  
  
  
"And now! What you've all been waiting for! The Test Of Courage!" The teacher called out through a megaphone. I looked over at Kinomoto who was clinging to Tomoyo-san. She looked very scared, I felt so bad for her. The teacher continued to explain the details of the test. "There is a pond in the back of this cave. You must cross the bridge across that pond to get to the mini shrine in the center. You will your candle at that shrine." She lit her own candle and held it up, pretending to place it down on the pretend-shrine. She picked up her megaphone again and called, "Are you ready?!" Cheers rose from all the kids. Over all of it though, I could hear a small whimper from Kinomoto:  
"It's the saaame! It's the same as Naoko's storiieee!" Tomoyo agreed. In truth, I was scared myself. Who knew what it was that I was sensing from that cave.  
"There is only one path and it ends at the shrine, so there will be no way you can get lost. Once you've left the candle you come right back here. No! Let's get started!" The teacher said at last. I took one last look around before finding Yamazaki and saw Mitzuki, she smiled at me as I glared and turned my back on her. I really didn't trust her in the least bit.   
  
The line was long, and finally Naoko and her group left for the cave. Next was Kinomoto and Tomoyo. And finally Yamazaki and I. "Aahhh! It's almost our turn!" Kinomoto cried in despair. "Don't worry. There'll be teachers inside to scare us." Tomoyo tried to reassure her. "It's our turn!" Chiharu cried out happily as Kinomoto grabbed onto Tomoyo and refused to let go. "Good luck." Yamazaki called, waving at his friends. "We'll do our best!" They cried. I watched Kinomoto as they accepted their candle from... Dang, Mitzuki again. Yamazaki;s laughter interrupted me and I heard what he was saying, "Kinomoto! You've got your right hand going with your right leg!" Mitzuki smiled at us as she handed us our candles and wished us good luck. I glared at her, unable to keep myself from being suspicious of her.  
  
We entered the cave and Yamazaki was making jokes throughout it all. I stopped in my tracks and glared at the darkness up a head. Yamazaki paused as well and stared at me. "What's wrong, Li? What are you glaring at?"  
"This is...!" I mumbled to myself and began to run ahead. "Li! Li, wait!" Yamazaki yelled after me as he ran. His voice was silenced and I heard the candle fall, and saw the light go out. I turned and saw that Yamazaki was gone, but the candle lay on the ground, useless. I heard a scream come from up ahead. "Kinomoto!" I cried out as I realized who it was. I ran once more toward the bridge, she ran right into me. Tears were running down her face as she said, "Tomoyo, everyone..." They disappeared, I realized looking at the girl in front of me as she sniffled, trying to stop the flow of tears. "They've disappeared?" I asked, wanting to be sure. She nodded her head, "Yamazaki disappeared, too..." I said staring at her. "Is it a ghost?! Did a ghost take Tomoyo and the others?!" She asked, looking up at me with desperate eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest and answered, I now knew what I had been sensing, "No."   
"But!" She cried out, looking up at me with her wide emerald eyes, her hair ruffled. I put both of my hands on her shoulders and told her to be calm. "If you calm down, you'll understand!" I said, trying to make her realize what had really happened. Kinomoto sniffed once more and looked up at me again, I looked down at her wishing I could have actually comforted her. But... the elders... She wiped away her tears and concentrated. "I... I feel the presence ... of Clow Card!" She said as her eyes widened with surprise. She still looked so sad as she clutched a hand to her chest and stared at the darkness ahead, still sniffling. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. She accepted it and dried her eyes. "Th... Thank you." She whispered into the handkerchief.  
"Are you done crying?" I asked, looking over at her from the corner of my eyes. "You're... nice..." She said as she looked up from behind her hands. I turned to actually face her, my face burning. Thank you God for letting it be dark! "I'm just soft on crybabies." I insisted as I looked away from her, turning redder. I probably glowed in the dark...  
  
"But... if the disappearances are the work of a Clow Card... where is the card?" She asked me, I was already ahead of her and pulled out the little Ying Yang that the board I used became. "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. Hold Fast To The Ancient Laws. Thunder and Lightening." I whispered, a beam of light pointed from the board to where the card was. "It's in the direction of the shrine." I reported, smiling a little at seeing her look a bit better. As we walked we spoke a little, "I wonder what card it is?" She said.  
"I don't know. We'll find out when we get closer."   
"But, it's so dark... Oh!" Kinomoto said as she pulled out the spare candle, she smiled until I asked her if we had anything to light it with.   
"N-no..."  
I leaned close to her and asked her, praying, "Do you have any magic relating to fire?" I  
"N-n-no..." Okay, perhaps she wasn't the best Cardcaptor...  
"Fire Elemental Spirit." I whispered as I started a small fire on the candle.   
"Wow!"   
"If you had a decent number of cards, ever you could be able to do this."   
"But you can use magic, and you can cook and clean..." She leaned in close to me, "I think that's wonderful, Li!"   
Argh! There I go again, turning red. Oh how the clan wouldn't approve... I can see my mother now... "L-let's go!" I hear myself say as I walk off. She follows and called for me to wait.   
  
"Can I ask you something?"  
"What?"  
"Why do you want to collect the Clow Cards, Li?"  
"To stop the Evil... that will befall this world..."  
"'Clow Cards... When the seal is broken, Evil will befall this world.'"  
"Did Keroberos tell you that?"  
"Yes.."  
I sighed and stopped walking, turning to look at her. "There are several magic tomes written by Clow in the Li household. In one Clow himself wrote, "Evil will befall the world when all the Clow Cards' seals are broken... I hope with all my heart that day, that Evil, will never come."  
"What is... that... Evil?"  
"I don't know..." The candle flickers as I say this. "But Clow had a rather eccentric personality. Nothing much moved him. But for a person like him to wish a disaster would never come... I have the strongest magic in the Li family, that's why I came to Japan. Where the Cards are."  
"But! Kero said... it might not be an Evil to some people!"  
"But couldn't that also mean it could be terrible Evil to others?"  
Her eyes became watery, and she sniffled. I gasped as I realized what I just said. "B... But I don't really know!" I said as I turned away from her to hide my red face. Please let this work... "Anyway! We had better find that card!" I called out at I once again ran off.   
We reached the edge of the lake, and I stopped myself without an inch to spare before I fell into the water. "The bridge... burned up..." Kinomoto whispered as she looked at me. "Is it the shrine? I can use fly to get over there..." Kinomoto said as she clutched her transformed staff.   
"No. We'd better approach quietly so the card doesn't sense us." I pulled out a scroll as I said this and spoke, "Floating steps." Wind circled out feet for a moment, and then it faded. "What? Li!" Kinomoto cried out as I stepped onto the water, she ran forward to stop me from tipping into it, and was surprised when I walked over it.   
"Is this your magic too, Li?" She asked, staring at me. I nodded. "Hurry up, I did it so you can come too. When you don't know what the card is, it's best to find where the card is hiding. It's probably near that shrine."  
"Okay!" We walked across the water and halfway there, the card started to work. I knew because I was disappearing. "Li!" Kinomoto cried out, tears threatening to spill out in her eyes. "Calm Down! If the card is at work, you should be able to tell where it is!"   
"But! But!"  
"CONCENTRATE! Do you want everyone to stay gone?!" I cried out as more and more of my disappeared. "NO!" Kinomoto screamed. With a flash of light the location of the card with revealed and Kinomoto ran to the shrine, pulling open the doors. "NOW!" I screamed as Kinomoto hit the card with her wand and cried out desperately, "Return to the form you were destined to be! CLOW CARD!" A figure appeared and became a card, when it floated to her, I read the title when I had reappeared. The Erase. Only then did I realize Kinomoto was holding the card out to me. "This is yours, Li. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. I turned away from her and began to walk away. "That's yours..." I mumbled. "Thank you..." She replied, hugging the card to her. I blushed again and ran for the exit, leaving Kinomoto behind.  
  
  
"I was looking forward to that test of courage, but I can't remember anything about it."   
"Me too!"  
"Me too!"  
"I don't remember it either."  
And so the conversation went with the entire class. Kinomoto didn't seem to know why they didn't remember it, and so I whispered in her ear, "Erase removed their memories of the event."  
"I see..."  
Naoko ended the conversation when she brought up her story, I listened as well, knowing it was probably the same Yamazaki had told. Kinomoto shuddered. "In the end, they found out that there was a way out behind the shrine. Everyone was using it to get out. I thought we could try and find it." Naoko said. Kinomoto sighed with relief, and I did too, but inside. "I know some ghost stories too!" Naoko chirped happily. "Let's play! Okay? Okay?" Kinomoto asked as she pushed her friends away. "Thanks for yesterday." She whispered to me.   
"Don't think I've accepted you."  
"I know, but I wanted to thank you."  
"SAKURA!" The other kids cried as they waved her over. "Okay!" She called as she ran to them.   
  
I watched her run away and cursed the elders. Why can't I be friends with Kinomoto Sakura? Why must we be rivals? Why...?  
  
  
  
AN: So that's my story, sorry if it sucks, or if I misspelled names and junk! 


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